Christophe Vander Eecken has been a photographer since 1992. He works on assignments documenting people, trying to avoid staged photographs, and striving to capture the world as it unfolds around him. He is a member of PhotoShelter, the leader in portfolio websites, photo sales, marketing, and archiving tools for photographers.
Vander Eecken describes how his discovery of photography at the age of 15 was love at first sight. At that age, he redirected his eyes from himself towards the world. It showed him a possibility to learn, providing an alternative to book-learning
When and how did you get started?
I wasn’t a very good student at the time. Not that I wasn’t smart enough, I wasn’t able to focus long enough and get knowledge out of books. So at that time my father, who was a doctor, but also an amateur photographer, handed me an old camera and that is where the love started. The next year I went to photography school and instead of bad school results, I came home with great school results. It literally opened my world.
What is your secret to be ready to shoot the best images?
For me, there is not really a secret or recipe for shooting the best images. It’s a combination of intuition and emotion, being at the right spot, the right time in the right mood and forgetting oneself. It’s as Henri Cartier Bresson described so well in his “decisive moment” – something like putting one's head, eye and heart in the same axis – in combination with integrity and soul, photography can be a powerful medium to communicate a story or suggest a feeling.
Tell us about your most memorable shoot.
There are really lots of memorable moments, but the best memories I keep are when I get in touch with other cultures. I remember my first big trip in 1996 to Brazil, I was working for Amnesty International, in between the street children and Sem Terra movement. I came back home and was really shocked by this experience.
A bit later, I worked for one week alongside the National Geographic photographer and Sony ambassador Tomasz Tomaszewski, in a gypsy settlement.I learned so much from him about empathy, relationships, ethics and more. He’s such a lovely person!
Where does your inspiration come from?
Perhaps it’s not very trendy, but I still find love and inspiration in the ‘old-school’ traditional documentary photographers and photojournalists, who still work in a similar way. The list is long… From Abbas in black and white to Webb in color, Eugene Smith, people related to Magnum, Agence Vu, VII…
In Belgium, I have been following the work of Carl De Keyzer since I was 15 – what an oeuvre! In workshops with Darcy Padilla and also Cedrc Gerbehaye, I also found true inspiration.
I also really appreciate photographers like Martin Bogren or Paolo Nozzolino.
